今天李華和 Michael二人一起開車到市中心,他們想要找個停車的空位。在他們二人對話中,李華會學到兩個常用語:a big deal和give it a shot。
M: Man, I hate trying to park my car in this city! There are never any spaces. Hey look! There's one!
L: 啊!我看到了那個位子。 Um, Michael, 可是我不知道我該不該停 那兒。我的停車技術很 差,我怕出差錯把車給撞了。
M: Don't worry about it! You have to learn this sooner or later. Give it a shot!
L: 你說什么?Give what? 我該把車干嗎?
M: I said give it a shot, that means try or give it a try. We say give a shot when we ask someone to try something they are not sure they can do.
L: 噢,你用的字 shot, S-H-O-T. 就好像開槍射擊的那個 shot,是不 是?
M: That's right. For instance, when you are taking a test, and you are not sure of the answer to a question, you still have to give it a shot and try to guess the correct answer.
L: 奧,give it a shot原來指的是盡量試試,即使你沒有多大信心。
M: That's right. Now you try and use this phrase. Go ahead, give it a shot!
L: Hmm, 如果說你想要申請一個很好的工作,可是又怕自己得不到,你就可以說:Give it a shot! 反正你也不會有什么損失的。
M: You've got it.
L: 那還有沒有其它場合可以用shot這個字的?
M: Well, we might also say give it your best shot.
L: 好,所以我們也可以說“give it your best shot”, 意思就是全力以赴去試一下。
M: That's right. Now you'd better move your car into that space. We shouldn't sit here in the middle of the road. Go ahead and park, give it a shot!
L: 好,我就試試。
L: 我的天, Michael,我撞到哪里了?
M: Don't worry Li Hua, it's not a big deal. The bumper just hit the parking meter.
L: 你說不大什么?不管撞倒哪兒都不得了啊。
M: No no, I said its not a big deal. That means it's not very serious.
L: Oh, 那“big deal”是哪兩個字,怎么拼?
M: Big, B-I-G; Deal, D-E-A-L. If something is a big deal it is very serious, or very important to someone.
L: 奧,我明白了,當我撞上停車計時表,你說 its not a big deal,你的意思是說沒什么大不了的。我并沒有造成多大損害。
M: Yeah, at least I don't think you did. Maybe you scratched the bumper or the parking meter. You didn't really damage the car or meter, so it's not a big deal.
L: 原來如此,但愿你說的對。哎,還有,要是不用 not 這個字可以 嗎?
M: Sure you can, for instance, it was a big deal for me when I turned 16 and got a drivers license.
L: 對。對美國青年人來說,拿到駕駛執(zhí)照可真是一件大事。
M: Looks like you understand how to use this phrase. Why don't you make another sentence?
L: 好,我就用它造句子: It was a very big deal for Chinese people when
M: It sure was! I remember on TV, I saw a lot of people in
L: 哎呀,別多說了。我得趕快把車停好。
M: Yep, if a cop sees you stopping traffic, he might think it is a big deal. Move out of the space and try to park again. Give it another shot!
今天李華學到了兩個常用語:a big deal 和give it a shot。A big deal是指很重大,或者嚴重的事。Give it a shot 指的是盡力去試。